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How Bright is the Future of Automation?

In the 1955 short story “Autofac,” Philip K. Dick envisioned a world dominated by self-replicating robots that work incessantly, eventually depleting the planet’s resources.

Tooling Technology Past, Present and Future

The history of cutting tools goes back a ways—a long, long way. Our prehistoric ancestors were pretty good at making stone tools, and the technology has improved from there. I saw how much on a February visit to the Deutsches Museum in Munich, which has an exhibit on the history of machining.

Innovations in Workholding

Not long ago, the mention of workholding might call to mind the traditional vise or three-jaw chuck. The integral nature of proper fixturing to successful machining has forever changed that paradigm and made workholding as critical to the manufacturing process as any of the machines or systems of which it is a part.

Automated Metrology in Manufacturing

Modern manufacturing is a data-driven endeavor. The sheer volume of data available to be collected and analyzed is staggering—and something that couldn’t have been envisioned even 20 years ago.

Tips for Choosing a CNC

Like most of the digital architecture of manufacturing, computer numerical controllers (CNCs) have advanced rapidly in recent years, producing far more processing speed and implementing advanced algorithms, while at the same time offering simpler, more intuitive user interfaces.

Hey, Job Shops: Time to Automate!

Robots and job shops have not typically been talked about together. After all, everyone knows that automation is only suitable for high-volume production, and the typical mom-and-pop operation is anything but—its schedule filled with orders for high-mix, low-volume, and often highly complex work.